1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a home network system, and more particularly, to a method for controlling a home network system to automatically upload user interface (UI) and function information of slave appliances to a master appliance and a personal video recorder (PVR) to use the uploaded information.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In earlier stages of the development of home automation systems that automatically control various kinds of appliances in a home or at a place far away from a home, each appliance was controlled independently through a telephone line or infrared rays. However, such appliances could not be controlled as a group even if they were in some way associated with one another. In more recent years, home network systems have been developed in which a network is constructed among the respective home appliances using a communication means and in which a controller is provided to control and manage the appliances.
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a background art home network system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a master appliance that uploads UI and function information of a slave appliance in the background art home network system shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, a home network is constructed by connecting a plurality of home electronic appliances such as, for example, refrigerators, air conditioners, microwave ovens, washing machines, and personal computers (PCs) through a communication bus.
The microcomputers included in many home appliances have serial communication capabilities, and they can communicate with other microcomputers or appliances. Memories can be used in the microcomputers having sizes that vary according to the characteristics of the appliances.
In a network that includes one or more PCs and their peripheral appliances or multimedia appliances including digital television receivers (DTVs), high-grade hardware specifications are adopted to operate their basic functions. Thus, a standard for a high-speed communication with a large amount of data is required.
However, in home appliances such as, for example, refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens, electric lamps, gas alarms, desk lamps, and boilers, microcomputers that have relatively low-grade functions of less than 8 bits are generally used in order to perform their storage and other functions. In a home network composed of such home appliances, a remote control that monitors the operating state of the appliances is the main device for managing the appliances in the network. Thus, a standard for communication using relatively small-scale microcomputer resources is required, unlike the network composed of a PC or multimedia-series appliances.
A home network control protocol (HNCP) is a communication standard that defines the connection method of signal lines and the order of signal flow for communication among appliances in the home network. Communications with other appliances or the Internet can be performed using a network manager that serves as a bridge between the HNCP and other external protocols to control the home network.
FIG. 1 shows a DTV as a master appliance that uses the HNCP standard. The HNCP standard is a home networking standard for performing communications between master appliances such as DTVss and slave appliances through the RS232C standard of a PLC modem using the existing power lines without incurring the cost of installing an additional line.
In the background art system, as shown in FIG. 2, the UI and function information used in communicating with a slave appliance 22 is basically predefined when a master appliance such as DTVs is developed, and is stored in an internal memory such as a flash ROM 23. Any additional UI or functions cannot be used without separate measurements. Thus, in order to use them, a separate procedure is used in upgrading the software of the master appliance 21.
As described above, according to the background art system, the UI and functions for communications with the slave appliances are predefined irrespective of the characteristics of the slave appliances. This means that only particular kinds of items and slave appliances can be used, and the independent UI and function information of the slave appliances should be stored in separate memories provided in the respective slave appliances.
The background art home network system and the operation method thereof have the following further problems and disadvantages. According to the background art system, since the UI and functions for communications with the slave appliances are predefined irrespective of the characteristics of the slave appliances, non-defined slave appliances cannot be used through the home network. This means that only particular kinds of items and slave appliances can be used, and it is difficult to use appliances in the home network system that may, for example, be a product of a different manufacturer and therefore be incompatible with one another. Also, in the event that the memory capacity of the master appliance is insufficient, the UI cannot be used.